A Minecraft Movie Review

Directors, scriptwriters, and fans have long discussed turning the beloved sandbox video game Minecraft into a film adaptation. That ten-year period officially ended on April 4 with the release of the box office hit “A Minecraft Movie.”

Though the film has received widespread monetary and social praise, can we say it was worth the wait?

“A Minecraft Movie” follows the story of a group of goofy, tropey misfits, none of whom you can pinpoint as being the official main character. After getting stuck in the world of Minecraft, the characters work together to defeat an evil piglin trying to destroy the Overworld and learn the joys of creation and imagination along the way. You would be right if it sounds like a plot you’ve seen done a hundred times. The story is simple and targeted toward a younger demographic than the Minecraft game actually is. Though entertaining and quippy, the characters lack any real dimension or growth. The dialogue, though hilarious and pacey, is pretty generic. Fans walking into this movie expecting gripping storytelling like Minecraft Story Mode or heartwarming emotion like that in the Minecraft end poem should heed this warning: This is a corny, ironic kids’ movie. It isn’t a heartwarming children’s classic with a beautiful message like ‘The Iron Giant’ or ‘Toy Story,’ but maybe it isn’t trying to be, and perhaps that is OK.

Minecraft’s popularity among adults and children alike has given the game a lifelong legacy in the video game hall of fame. The concept of a free and open world full of limitless creative possibilities did not isolate the game’s audience from any demographic, and soon, the game was pulling in over one hundred million monthly active users. Its influence flooded global pop culture and mass media, inspiring merchandise, parody songs, YouTubers, memes, and more.
If you were even the vaguest bit of electronically inclined in the 2010s, you knew what Minecraft was. And if you knew what it was, you probably knew it could be a little weird.

And in many ways, that is what “A Minecraft Movie” expects from its audience. Whether the viewer was going to see the movie after Little League Baseball practice or after their 5 p.m. lecture, director Jared Hess knew the viewers would most likely already understand the world and culture he was writing his, albeit simplistic, story into. Hess expects you to be in on the bit — or the social culture — that is Minecraft.

Even if you expected more substance from the story, Hess knew you would laugh during the characters’ first night scene because you’ve probably experienced that. He knew you would understand the references to Herobrine, Technoblade and probably Big Chungus because of their intrinsic cultural connection to Minecraft media. What the movie lacked in plot points and storyline, it made up for in iconic social references and silly childlike nostalgia.

So maybe the movie wasn’t incredible. Perhaps it was a little bit stupid. But in many ways, its absurdism and idiocy is what made it such an enjoyable watch. The jokes and tropes may have been corny, but I and dozens of other Minecraft fans in theaters across the globe laughed anyway because we were all in on the joke. “A Minecraft Movie” doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it expects its audience to do the same.